STATESBORO, GA (April 2, 2022) – North Carolina FC collected their first win of the season on the road on Saturday night, defeating South Georgia Tormenta FC 1-0 behind a goal from Garrett McLaughlin. Oalex Anderson added the assist on McLaughlin’s goal, and several players made their regular season debut with the club, including McLaughlin, Anderson, Jordan Skelton, Christian Lue Young, Jaden Servania, Showkat Tahir, Gustavo Fernandes, and Will Pulisic.
“I couldn’t be happier and more proud of this group on the way they competed this evening,” said Head Coach John Bradford. “To fight this way on the road, earning three points is an example of what these guys are capable of. It’s been a long preseason and it’s great for these guys to have earned this reward. Even after going down a man, I knew we had fight left to get a result. I’m happy for Will Pulisic to make his professional debut and do it with a clean sheet, and happy for Garrett to open his scoring account this season and happy for all of them to defend as hard as they did.”
NCFC drew first blood in tonight’s match, as Oalex Anderson beat a defender up the left sideline to play a ball across the face of the Tormenta goal. Anderson’s cross found the head of Garrett McLaughlin in the box as the striker connected with the service to score NCFC’s first goal of the season in his club debut.
“It was a massive performance from our backline, from our midfield, and from Will,” said McLaughlin following the match. “It wasn’t pretty but we definitely grew up tonight. I’m excited to see where this group will go.”
Likewise making his debut with NCFC was goalkeeper Will Pulisic, who made several key saves throughout the match to maintain the 1-0 scoreline and preserve the victory for the North Carolina side. With the result, Pulisic collects his first clean sheet in his first appearance of the season, rendering Tormenta scoreless throughout the full 90 and stoppage time.
“It’s been a long preseason and we’ve put in a lot of work each day,” said Pulisic. “From where we started to now, we’ve continued to get better and that showed tonight. The effort from every player was amazing. This is a great way to start the season and something we are going to build on.”
Match Notes:
- Garrett McLaughlin scored his first NCFC goal in his debut with the club.
- Jaden Servania, Jordan Skelton, Garrett McLaughlin, Christian Lue Young, Will Pulisic, Showkat Tahir, Gustavo Fernandes, and Oalex Anderson made their NCFC debut in tonight’s match.
- Between the two sides, five cards were administered.
Up Next: North Carolina FC will return to WakeMed Soccer Park to face Rio Grande Valley FC in the second round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup on Wednesday, April 6 at 7 p.m. ET. Tickets to the match are available here.
Box Score:
NCFC (4-4-2): Will Pulisic, Christian Lue Young, Jordan Skelton ©, Gustavo Fernandes, Nelson Flores Blanco, Nelson Martinez, Luis Arriaga, Jaden Servania (Caden Tolentino — 90+2’), Showkat Tahir (Drew Kerr — 63’), Garrett McLaughlin (Max Flick — 90+3’), Oalex Anderson (Cole Frame — 46’)
Subs Not Used: Nicholas Holliday, Britton Fischer, Nicolas Rincon
TRM (4-5-1): Pablo Jara, Deshawon Nembhard, Jake Dengler, Joshua Phelps, Curtis Thorn, Gabriel Cabral, Chris Heckenberg (Josue Soto — 75’), Adrian Billhardt (Baraktulla Sharifi — 75’), Kingsford Adjei (Kazaiah Sterling — 71’), Alex Morrell (Jamil Roberts — 69’), Arthur Bosua
Subs Not Used: TJ Bush, Brittain Gottlieb, Owen Green
Score:
NCFC: 1
TRM: 0
Goals:
NCFC: Garrett McLaughlin (Oalex Anderson) – 22’
TRM: –
Cautions:
NCFC: Showkat Tahir – 1’, Oalex Anderson – 18’
TRM: Arthur Bosua – 5’, Josue Soto – 80’
Ejections:
NCFC: Nelson Martinez – 78’
TRM: –
